


Collision City

by ImaKaraTabiHe



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Barry still has superspeed, Blaming, Broken Friendships, Bruce Wayne - Dark Bat in Collision, Dimension Travel, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Guilt, Hal Jordan - Green Aura in Collision, Kara Danvers - Syfy in Collision, Mild Language, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Oliver Queen - Archer in Collision, Self-Hatred, but he's not flash, other characters (mentioned) - Freeform, other heroes (mentioned)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2016-12-04
Packaged: 2018-09-06 08:52:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8743354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImaKaraTabiHe/pseuds/ImaKaraTabiHe
Summary: After Barry changed the timeline, friendships are fractured and things are hard for Barry.  Unable to take the hatred, self-loathing, and guilt, Barry flees through a tear in the dimension to a new dimension where he finds a new life and begins to recover.Sadly, there are some loose ends that need to be tied up when people realize he's missing.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This has elements of S2 & 3, but doesn't follow the seasons.

Barry stares at the empty space in front of him, the abandoned building looking as lonely as he feels, crumbling from all the hits its taken over time. He certainly knows how it feels, but he's not here to sympathize. He's tired of being told he needs to empathize, to sympathize, to “goddamn it Barry, it's your fault, you fix it!” He's tired of being hated, of feeling guilty – he's even tired of hating himself.

He steps forward, cowl thrown back and a bag slung across his left shoulder. Reaching out his hand towards the wall, it sparks and there's a soft swooshing sound as the tear becomes visible. Lightning crackles down his arm and dances on his fingertips seductively. Just one more step and Flash will be gone. He won't be able to fuck up anything anymore. Just one more step.. and Barry can start over.

If anyone knew what he was doing, they might call it running away, might call it cowardice and irresponsible, might hate him even more, but Flash was destined to vanish. Gideon had it written down on a newspaper from the future. Flash was going to disappear. Barry merely decided to vanish a little.. sooner.

Taking a breath, Barry steps through the tear and into a new world, a new beginning, somewhere where he couldn't make anything worse, he hoped.

Stepping through the tear is like stepping into a dream, except it's not a dream, it's reality. It looks similar to Central, but it's not. Barry's confused, at first, as to what the city's name is until he sees a sign that says “Welcome to Collision”. It's silly and ironic, but this is definitely where Barry's going to live. What kind of superspeed meta would he be if he didn't have any collisions?

So if he's wound up colliding with a city called Collision? It was somehow meant to be.

He knows the first rule of thumb when going to a new dimension is to research. Research, research, research. If you meet your alternate self, things could get weird, and it was always a wise choice to learn about the place you ended up in.

As fate would have it, Barry's dead. Not him, but Collision City's Barry Allen is. He died early in life in a car accident that had broken his parents' hearts and forced them to leave Collision to start anew. Barry gets it. That's why he's here after all.

Other than the name change, it's a lot like his dimension. There are metas, criminals, vigilantes.. Except the names are a bit different, but so is the city's name. He can deal with that.

Barry goes about setting his life up, subtly taking the place of Collision City's Barry Allen. He does some hacking that Felicity had shown him once, so he has a past and maybe a very distant relation to Henry and Nora Allen.

Getting started is a little difficult. It feels lonely, but he tries to treat it like a move to a new city – no new dimension involved. He's brought some money with him that he uses to get a crappy hotel room for a while. There's a lucky opening at Collision City's CSI division, so he applies and, well, he's made sure the keep his education the same, so he easily gets in.

Being a Collision City CSI is nice and familiar. This dimension's Captain Signh is nicer and sticks up for him in a way that makes his heart warm. Joe West moved to New York with his daughter for a new career, so he doesn't have to deal with the guilt and nostalgia of seeing that familiar face. He's glad. He wants to leave Central City, wants to leave the Flash behind him.

He's back to being boring, nerdy, CSI Barry Allen.

Mostly.

It's hard to stop being a meta when it's written into your biology, but Barry restrains himself in public, and he eats his crappy version of the bricks Caitlin and Cisco made. While investigating, he'd come across articles upon articles, and praises about this dimensions “heroes”. There are some familiar faces despite the unfamiliar names, but they seem to be doing a better job than Flash has ever done, so he watches.

Barry finds that this dimension's Cisco and Caitlin still have their jobs with STAR Labs. Somehow Harrison Wells was able to make a recovery from the explosion of the accelerator. Barry had been wary at first, but there were no signs of the Reverse-Flash, so he resigned himself to being happy for those two and their prestigious jobs at STAR Labs. They were happy, and Barry wasn't going to run the risk of screwing up their lives again, so he stayed away.

He was doing so well with minding his own business and keeping the Flash locked up for the safety of everyone. It was going great, until.. aliens.

Barry's not sure why he bothers questioning the logic of things anymore. He can run faster than a train, throw lightning, run on water and up buildings, travel back in time.. And yet, his first reaction is to stare at the TV as it reports on the ongoing chaos of a small scale version of a war between two alien races happening outside of Collision.

Time slows down around him as his mind flashes back. He slips out the door as slow as possible and finds himself in an alley. Away from the prying eyes of others, he sinks onto the disgusting pavement and hugs himself as he shivers. “Go away,” he tells the memories of Central City. He remembers losing his mother. “Go. Away,” he hisses. He remembers losing Eddie, his dad..

Then he remembers Flashpoint and everything about it. Barry bites his lip, trying to ignore the memories of accusations, hatred, guilt – he just wants it all to _stop._ He came here to get away from that. To live without hurting anyone or being hurt. He's happy here. Barry Allen is happy.

He hears a crash echo from a TV somewhere close by and there are screams, gasps of fear and shock. Barry forces the tremors down and stands, decision made. He can't leave anyone in danger – never could.

Barry finds himself in his apartment, staring at his Flash costume in his room. He reaches out and runs a finger across the lightning emblem on the front, ignoring Cisco's voice in his head. “Hello again, old friend,” he whispers reverently. His hand sparks as if his speed knows he's about to set it free.

His neighbor screeches about aliens through the thin wall and Barry changes in an instant. The texture feels strange against his skin, unfamiliar and heavy. “Come on, Flash.” He rolls his head around. “Get into the game. It's like riding a bike.. Except it's on fire… and there's explosions and the Earth is cracking open...” He shakes himself free of the negative feelings.

“ _Run, Barry.”_ Wells' voice whispers in his ear. _“Run.”_ And he's off  with that piece of his past ringing in his ears.

Barry tries to imagine everything being back to normal, back to the way it was before Flash screwed up, before he screwed up, as he runs through the city. Then his imagination becomes all too real for him when he hears Cisco's bitter voice in his ears and he thrusts the idea from his mind. 'Focus on the aliens, Barry.  _ Aliens.' _

It's grounding to hear the sounds of battle and to see Dark Bat, Archer, and Syfy trying to pull them apart without damaging any abandoned structures. They're not the people he knew. This isn't his home dimension. This is reality. Barry Allen is here and they aren't.  _ It's okay. _

He's seen the heroes in clips, read about them online – it was habit he couldn't give up, but right now they're here before his eyes. Flash watches as movements slow down, everyone moves as if they're swimming in quicksand. His eyes wash over the scene and he finally spots the two he was looking for – the leaders.

“Excuse me,” he says, stopping in front of Dark Bat. “Hi.” Dark Bat stares at him with intensity as he punches an alien away. “Cool,” Barry responds. “You don't know me, obviously, but if I get the two leaders, do you think you could work something out?”

Dark Bat twitches, head leaning ever so subtly like he's listening to someone and it hits Barry that he is. Barry's head turns and he spots Syfy and Archer glancing their way through the chaos with concern and questions. “Yes,” Dark Bat gruffly answers. “Can you do it?”

Barry snorts. 'Can he do it?' Of course he can. “Be right back~~” He races through the battle, dodging lasers, punches, weapons – damn this is a death trap to a normal person – and grabs the heads of each side. He appears in front of Dark Bat just as Syfy and Archer make it to the black costumed vigilante's side. “Brought you a present,” he sings as he drops the heads in front of them.

The two alien leaders are dazed from the trip, but that doesn't stop Dark Bat from grabbing each one and lifting them to their feet. “You're trespassing,” he growls in a voice that reminds him a little of Green Arrow's. “This is our planet and you need to take your issues elsewhere.”

“Do they understand English?” Syfy whispers to Archer, who shrugs.

“Maybe?”

The two leaders nod, fearfully. Barry doesn't blame them. Dark Bat gives him goosebumps when he's so growly. “I think so,” Barry whispers to both of them, suddenly appearing at their side causing them to startle.

Dark Bat continues to tell – threaten – them as Archer glares at Barry. “Who are you?”

Barry shrugs, watching the leaders squirm and observing the halt of battle as the aliens watch their leaders tremble under an Earthling's wrath. “Just a guy from Collision who saw the trouble and thought I might end it early.”

“You're not another alien are you?” Syfy questions curiously. Kara's alternate is just as sweet as she is. Barry doesn't doubt Syfy could knock him through a brick wall though.

“Nah, just a meta.”

“But you're not 'just a meta',” Archer argues. “Metas don't have uniforms. You do. Why?”

At least this dimension's Oliver resembles his. It's actually a bit soothing to be interrogated like this. Reminds him of the first time he met Oliver. 'Should've known something was off when known playboy was actually serious,' Barry sighs, thinking of that time.

“Syfy,” Dark Bat interrupts, “make sure they all leave.” Syfy gives Barry one last glance.

“Don't go away,” she demands lightly before she flies into the air, watching as the aliens return to their respective ships. Barry watches as she circles the ships, flying up after them into the atmosphere until they've disappeared.

“So.” Barry looks at Dark Bat. “Who are you?” the vigilante demands.

Barry raises an eyebrow beneath his cowl and counters, “Well, who are you?”

Surprisingly, Archer snorts. “He's got you there, Bat.”

Dark Bat looks at Archer and retorts with an unamused tone, “And you're any different?” Archer concedes and looks away.

Still, it doesn't seem like Dark Bat is going to just let Barry go, so he sighs as the interrogation begins. “Who are you? What are you doing here? What's your goal?” etc.

By the time Syfy returns an hour later, Barry's already tired of this game of cat and mouse. He's had his actions questioned more than enough and this time he doesn't even desire it, so he blows his top. “Look, pal, I only came this time, because it seemed like you needed help,” Barry grinds out. “Next time around it's all yours. This dimension certainly doesn't need the Flash, so I'm just going to quietly go back to my civilian life and leave all this hero business to you.”

“Not that anyone needs the Flash anymore,” Barry breathes out, unintentionally with a sadness that seemed to weigh him down.

“Anyways,” Barry straightens up, looking at them, “Good job this time and good luck in the future. See you not again!” Before anyone can stop him, Barry's back in his apartment, curled up on the floor with the suit strewn over the couch where he'd thrown it. The carpet feels rough and cold against his bare skin but damn if it doesn't feel better than wearing that _thing._

He turns away from the suit, looking elsewhere. “It's okay,” he tries to convince himself as little tremors wrack his body. “You're safe. Everything's okay. No one's here.” He counts backwards from fifty, naming a good thing that's happened since he's been in this dimension as his psychologist, Dr. Andrea, taught him.

It calms him down, easing the overwhelming guilt and self-hatred in his heart. It's not like Dr. Andrea knows his past. She knows the story he'd given about messing up back home and about leaving to start fresh. He tells her what he can, and in return she gives him ways to cope, someone to talk to. He wishes he'd had someone like her back in Central but at least she's there to help him now.

Aliens gone, Barry tries to put his past, to put the Flash, behind him. Back into its dusty hiding place went the Flash costume, and Barry returned to being a crime fighting CSI. He did his thing at the lab, had coffee from his favorite café, grocery shopped, went home and slept, and then rinse and repeat.

Life was back to normal.

“Barry Allen?”

Barry rolled his eyes as he looked at test results, hunched over his desk. 'And no one can wait until I bring them the results,' he huffed to himself. “Yeah? If you're waiting on test results, I'm not done yet.”

“We're not here for test results.”

That was interesting. Barry paused, frowning as he set his papers down and spun in his chair. “Then what are you here f- Oh.” He blinked, recognizing this dimension's Oliver Queen as well as some dark-haired man that Barry thinks he's seen in a magazine or on the news somewhere.

The two exchange looks before looking back at Barry. “You know us,” the dark-haired man states. What can Barry say to that? He doesn't _know_ them know them, but he's pretty much come to the conclusion that Oliver is Archer and his friend is some vigilante/hero. “How.” Dark Bat. Barry tries not to wince at the commanding tone.

“Okay, first of all, you're out of costume, so maybe don't use that voice,” Barry says, pen pointing at Dark Bat's civilian identity. “Second, I told you both that I just want to be normal. Why are you here?”

“We wanted to be sure,” Archer-Oliver says.

“That I'm not a criminal? Dude, I'm trying very hard not to get mixed up with the crime fighting world beyond being a CSI,” Barry explains, grateful that everyone else is at lunch. “I get that you're suspicious of me, that's all well and good, but Flash is dead and he's not coming back.”

“How come?”

“Look Dark guy, Flash is nothing but one big fuck up. This place has got its own heroes. No one needs the Flash.” Barry runs his fingers through his hair, tugging slightly to level himself. He doesn't want to freak out in the police station in front of two off duty vigilantes. Nope. Not at all. It can wait until he gets home.

“You're not from around here.”

Barry just wants to run out of there, find a building and scream his frustrations away. “No. I'm not. Is that a problem? Am I so much of a threat that you need to keep an eye on me?”

“No,” Oliver says, stepping forward. “We're sorry. We needed to be sure though.”

“You're really not here to cause trouble?” the man asks relentlessly. Oliver nudges him, glaring a warning. The man rolls his eyes and steps up to Barry, holding out his hand. “I was joking. Bruce Wayne. I'd be interested in hearing more about this 'Flash' character.”

Barry shakes his hand, warily. “No, you wouldn't, but it's nice to meet the Dark Bat out of costume.” Oliver Queen steps up and holds out his hand. Barry's shaking this Oliver's hand and cutting him off before he can introduce himself. “Always nice to meet an Oliver Queen.” Barry shrugs at their curious looks.

“And you too,” Oliver replies. “I think.”

Barry snorts. He's actually kind of missed Oliver and he knows they're not the same person, but still. “How about we go grab some coffee? I think neither of you trust me much right now, and that's fine. I'm just a CSI now, but I have a little experience with some things.” Barry doesn't wait to hear their responses as he clears his desk and grabs his coat, walking to the door. “Coming?”

Coffee turns out to be a little bit of a tense affair at first, but they talk and things ease up. They ask about Barry's work, though he doesn't answer some things. He tells them he's starting a new life here, that things went wrong where he lived and it was his fault, so now here he is. They ask about Flash and Barry tells them just enough to satisfy them. Some things are better left unsaid after all.

He talks most about his CSI work and how he does that, though it seems like Bruce already knows a lot. Keeping his voice low, Barry asks about their work both in public and in private. He can't resist pouting when he realizes that they're both billionaires. No wonder they're wearing expensive apparel.

Coffee once turns into twice, and then three times, and somehow Barry winds up being treated to food and being introduced to other heroes. Barry knew that there were many heroes here, but he didn't know that they'd secretly formed a group called the Network. Barry was good with meeting Syfy – Kara was cool, but what was this all of a sudden? There's no way Barry envisioned himself going out to lunch with a group of secret heroes.

Somehow he's been adopted by almost every member of the Network, even though he's adamantly reminded them that he's _not_ a hero, he's a CSI. “We don't care, Barry,” Green Aura's civilian identity of Hal Jordan tells him when he questions them. “You don't have to be a hero to be friends with us. Besides, you're pretty cool as a CSI anyways.” How can Barry refute that?

Suddenly Barry went from having no friends, to having a league of friends. He'd thought it would be better for him to be alone in this new dimension, better for everyone, really. Could he really trust himself as Barry Allen not to screw up as much as Flash did? Maybe not. Now though? He had more friends than could fit in his apartment at one time. It felt.. nice.

“Don't you think that Wells has been putting out some great plans?” Barry stumbled only to be caught by Hal one day as he was walking.

“He's been doing an amazing job lately,” another voice answered the first one. The familiar voices made Barry shudder and he leaned closer to Hal, watching as the two alternates of his old friends walked passed them. He tried not to yearn, but he did.

“I'm okay, Hal,” he reassured his friend, who looked doubtful. “Come on, I'm hungry.” Hal rolled his eyes and let it be, though Barry knew he was still worried about him. At least Barry got a free pizza out of it.

  


Central:

Five months and no word from Barry? Oliver was going to find out what the fuck was going on and who needed to be feathered. He knew that things were rocky between Barry and his friends ever since they'd found out about the timeline, but surely they would've called and told him if something had happened to Barry. Surely they would've cared..right?

'Oh, they better care,' Oliver growls to himself as he marches into STAR Labs. 'If I need to bang some heads together to resolve this mess, I will.'

STAR Labs looks.. It looks like it's lost something. The atmosphere seems dimmed and dull, no longer the shining center of Team Flash as Oliver had first seen it as. It's quiet and still, something Oliver would never thought the place would be. It always seemed so lively before with Barry running in and out. That's why it puts Oliver ill at ease to see it so desolate.

“Whoa!”

Oliver raises an eyebrow. It seems like he'd startled Cisco, nearly bumping into him. “Cisco,” Oliver greets, helping the engineer up.

“Man, you're like a ninja,” Cisco jokes. “I swear you could scare the fur off a cat.”

Oliver shrugs and looks passed Cisco's shoulder into the Cortex. It's brightly lit, but it looks barren and cold. “Where's everyone?”

“Oh, everyone's out and about. Stein's patrolling the area with some of the others, and Caitlin's out on a date,” Cisco answers him.

So nothing's wrong? It doesn't seem like Cisco's lying, but there's something off. “Cisco,” Oliver slowly began, eying a box of high calorie protein bars that seemed abandoned in a corner collecting dust, “where's Barry?”

And that was enough to make Cisco's face grow cold, his eyes flaming with emotions Oliver could only describe as loathing and rage. “Don't know. Don't care,” was Cisco's bitter reply.

Oliver's eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

Cisco shrugs away from Oliver, picking up a soda and taking a drink. “I mean, he's around. Don't know where, don't care where as long as it's not here.”

Oliver felt shocked deep down. He knew that things were rocky, but this badly? How could that be? How could anyone let this continue? “Does anyone know where he is?”

Cisco pretended to think for a moment. “Haven't heard anything about him for a few months, I'm assuming no. We've been busy.”

“You've.. 'been busy',” Oliver repeats with enough slowness to be sure he's heard Cisco right. “Do you know if he's okay?” Cisco shakes his head and Oliver feels something well up inside of him. “Do you even know if he's _alive?”_

“..No,” Cisco replies, a scrap of misery glinting through his 'who gives a damn' attitude.

Oliver wants to punch something, he wants to break something – he's so frustrated. Does no one _care?_ Suddenly he's left regretting that he thought they could work it out on their own. He'd seen the friction, saw the signs of fracture, but he'd hoped their friendship would survive it. He'd hoped.. his friends and family would see that as much as they feel betrayed by Barry, Barry was suffering. It hadn't all been his fault, yet they'd placed blame on him time and time again.

“Find him, Cisco,” Oliver growls, muscles tensing. “Find him _now.”_

Cisco frowns as if he doesn't agree, looks like he's going to deny Oliver's request, but seeing Oliver restraining himself changes his mind. “Fine, I'll find him. Probably at some fast food joint, but whatever you want, man.”

Oliver takes a deep breath and carefully releases it as he fights to control himself. 'What the fuck happened..' He clenches and unclenches his fists as he stands there, waiting for Cisco to finish calling, asking around, checking places.

“No dice, man.”

He withholds a sigh. “Can't you track Flash with GPS like you used to?” 'used to' – there's no question that things between them are so far stretched that Oliver knows he hasn't kept track of Barry.

Cisco looks at Oliver sheepishly. “It's um.. gone? Or disabled? I can't tell which.”

Oliver grits his teeth and holds himself still. He glances at the door to see Caitlin walk in with confusion and a bit of concern on her face. “Cisco? Why are you calling everyone asking if they've seen Barry? Has something happened?” she inquires, eyes flashing in a struggle between worry and bitterness. Damn, Oliver can't believe how broken everything seems between them and Barry.

Shrugging, Cisco spins in his chair. “Looks that way. Thought he might be hanging with someone else lately. He hasn't really been here ever since..”

Oliver raises an eyebrow, almost daring him to say 'since Barry screwed up'. It's not like he doesn't know Barry made a mistake, but he also knows that if he were in Barry's shoes, he probably would've done the same – they all would, yet here they are damning him for the consequences.

“We're going to find Barry,” Oliver states, voice confident and certain. “Keep looking.”

And they do look for hours, for days, and the search extends throughout the entire country for another month, but no one can find Barry anywhere. He's just.. gone somehow. There's no reports of a blur, no traces of anyone with super-speed.

Determined to keep looking, Oliver and Cisco stroll through the city and into the abandoned sections. The engineer really couldn't say no when Oliver demanded him to come with. “I don't know what you're hoping to find,” Cisco said, kicking a can on the sidewalk. “It's not like there's a sign saying 'Barry went this way' or anything.”

Oliver sighs, rubbing his temples. It's been a long month and they haven't found even a sign of where Barry could be. All they've found is that Barry's taken care of his bills, canceled any subscriptions, _resigned from his job –_ It's like he's not coming back. Oliver's not sure he can accept that.

Cisco seems quiet as they walk, shoulders slack despite the thoughts Oliver can see running through his head. “You know,” he speaks up. “Barry ran into that wall once.”

Oliver looks to where Cisco gestures. “Yeah? Fighting a meta?”

Cisco chokes on a laugh, and Oliver can't bring himself to delve into the reasons behind that. “No, he was actually looking at a menu for a new buffet.” Oliver's lips quirked in a small smile. “Stupid idiot was thinking with his stomach..”

“He broke flippin' nose! I swear, he -” and Cisco paused, eyes unfocusing and becoming vacant when they turned to another part of an abandoned building.

“Cisco?” Oliver questioned, body instantly tensing.

Cisco started towards the wall, hands outreaching with caution and mouth slowly opening with awe. “There's a tear.”

“..A tear?”

His eyes locked with Oliver's, completely serious. “There's a tear in the fabric of this dimension.”

“I thought you got all of those,” Oliver said, eyes surveying the area.

“I thought we'd tagged and closed them all too, but.. It looks like we missed one.” Cisco's finger touched something and Oliver flinched as the tear erupted into some kind of portal, visible now. “Barry went through here..” Cisco's soft voice made Oliver's head jerk towards him in surprise.

Barry _left?_ I mean, Oliver knew he left, but he left this dimension? How? Why? What? Oliver's head swam with more questions than answers.

“He ran away.” Oliver blinked; bitterness colored Cisco's voice. “How could he leave like that?”

Icy heat swam through Oliver's veins. “You mean he was supposed to stay alone?” Cisco's bitterness changed to confusion and Oliver stepped it up. “You didn't even know he was gone. What would it have mattered if he stayed?” And Oliver felt his own words cut himself as well. He hadn't properly checked on things, hadn't checked up on Barry. This was partially his fault.

“But he -” Oliver narrowed his eyes at Cisco, daring.

“You didn't care about him until you realized he'd run away. Does that change anything? It's been over five months, Cisco. No one's questioned where he was until now. What does that have to say about things?” Oliver continued. “I thought you all could work things out yourselves. Obviously I was wrong.”

Cisco's face fell, guilt permeating his features. “I..” Cisco's voice broke. “We didn't mean to..” Oliver shook his head.

Sighing, he spoke, “We're heading back. We'll call everyone together and.. and figure out what to do next.” Oliver looked at the tear, watching it swirl with light. “Let's go.”

It wasn't long before everyone was agreeing that they should bring Barry back. Felicity was crying and Oliver knew she felt as guilty and as vexed with things as he did. Some faces showed regret and guilt, and others added bitterness and frustration to the mix. Oliver would have to keep an eye on things.

Even as he slipped his gear on and pulled a coat over his uniform, his muscles never uncoiled. Things were going to be better. Oliver would make them better. They just had to get Barry back soon. He closed his eyes for a moment, concerned. “I hope he's okay,” he breathed to himself.

Oliver heard mutterings of 'how dare he run away' and some of them talked about Barry's 'responsibility', but he made himself ignore those. “Before we leave,” Oliver's voice echoes over the Cortex. “I want to remind you that we can't force him to return.” Some people look stunned, slightly angry.

“No!” Cisco says. “Flash is supposed to be here. This is his city and he needs to take care of it.” Oliver wants to scoff and question, 'by sacrificing his life? His happiness?' but it feels like everyone else agrees with that person. “He's the hero,” he continues. “He has to fight.”

Oliver doesn't agree, but he knows he's outvoted. He at least needs to see that Barry's okay. If worse comes to worse, he'll take a stand against them, maybe bash some heads if needs be. “C'mon guys!” Cisco calls, bag in hand. Oliver sighs. It's going to be hard to fix anything.

  


Collision:

Life on the other side of the tear isn't too much different – everyone's human, at least. The gang wanders through the streets, looking like a band of hunters that makes Oliver wince. How are they going to find Barry without looking like a small army that wants to kidnap him?

  


“I'm telling you, Hal. The Network should have more security in the Under-Caves,” Barry tells Hal, Green Aura, in a hushed voice.

“We have plenty of security, Barry,” Hal replies, coffee in hand. “It's not like Bat's going to let just anyone near the entrances.”

Barry rolls his eyes. “Bruce is still trying to figure out how to contain _my_ abilities,” he mutters.

“You know Bruce likes to have contingency plans for everything,” Hal reminds him. “He _does_ tend to be obsessive about it though.”

Barry snorts. “He probably heard that.” Hal freezes and grimaces. Bruce had a reach like no other and if anyone could hear themselves be badmouthed from anywhere, it'd be him.

“Anyways, I'm telling you. It's fine. You can come see the new installments yourself if you want.”

Shaking his head, he declines. “I'm a CSI, Hal. Not some hero. There's no reason for me to be there.”

This time, Hal rolls his eyes. “As if you weren't adopted by the whole of Network already.”

“I wasn't adopted, you guys just -” Barry pauses, ears straining to hear something on the breeze. He frowns. Surely, there wasn't anything to hear besides the normal city noise, was there?

  


“Cisco, I'm telling you. We don't even know if there's a Jitters in this place.”

Barry's heart stutters. He knows that voice.

“We all know how much he loves his caffeine. Plus, why wouldn't he go to a place to reminded him of Iris?”

And that voice.

“Barry?” Hal questions, concern taking over. “Barry, are you okay?” His eyes are sliding over Barry's form, looking for any hint as to why Barry was frozen in the middle of the sidewalk, face devoid of its color.

“Barry?” Hal whirls around, tense at the new voice. His eyes narrow at the sight of a group of people he's never seen before. Correction, there's someone who looks familiar, but it's not.. possible. He doesn't hesitate to place himself between this potential group of lynchers and Barry. They're determined, but so is Hal.

There's a hum in the air, electricity building. Hal looks back at Barry and his breath catches in his throat. Barry's eyes are wide and his arms are wrapped around his form. He looks smaller now, more fragile, and fear is making his body tremble at a near inhuman level.

He catches movement as someone steps forward and Barry's fear visibly rises. Hal glares at them. “Don't come any closer,” he growls, ring glowing a soft green as in response to Hal's emotions. “Who are you and what do you want?”

Cisco exchanges a look with Caitlin before he steps forward. “We're here to take Barry back to Central.”

Hal's eyes narrow, ring sparking dangerously in the open. It's lucky that most people are home from work now, but it's still risky. He sees the way their eyes widen and their bodies tense when they notice his ring. Good. Let them know that he's not going to give Barry up so easily.

Unaware of the tensions between Hal and everyone from Central, Barry's ears are ringing with distress. He wants to run but his feet feel heavier than a building. Cold sweat runs down his face as he clenches his fists so hard that his nails bite into the skin. Speed Force ripples under his skin in his panic.

'What's happening?' he cries out in a moment of confusion. Barry's eyes focus on Hal, taking in the leather fly jacket that Hal kept spouting was a lady killer. He somehow managed to step forward and grabbed Hal's jacket with his trembling hands. “Hal..” his voice shakes. “Hal, Hal..”

Fearfully, he looks at _them_ and all the guilt and self-hatred bubbles up again, awakening like a dragon hell bent on a rampage.

“Sssh..” Hal murmurs softly to Barry, reaching behind him and squeezing Barry's hand with his. “I've got this. I don't know who they are, but they aren't going to hurt you.”

Barry wants to tell Hal that he deserves it, but Dr. Andrea's words make him conflicted. He doesn't deserve it.. does he?

Oliver doesn't miss a beat as he watches Barry with the strange, obviously super ability possessing, man. His guilt doubles, but they need to talk about this. They're not there to hurt Barry ('aren't they?' a voice questions inside his head). “We're not going to hurt him,” Oliver states, stepping in front of the group. He notes how the man's eyes flash with recognition, but also double with wariness. Somehow, he knows this dimension's him, perhaps.

“Why don't we talk about this out of the way people's way, yeah?” Hal suggests, lifting his free hand and brushing back a lock of hair “casually”. He covertly turns on the comm in his ear and whispers, “Need back-up _now._ Some people are here trying to take Barry to a place called 'Central'.”

“Okay.” Oliver nods and gestures towards the large alley to their right.

Hal nods in reply and gently pulls Barry's hands from his jacket, pulling him against his side and helping him to walk in his daze into the alley. His lips curl in a ghost of a smile as he hears Dark Bat respond that he and Archer are on their way.

Barry and Hal take the dead-end side of the alley, despite it blocking them from the road. It appears to make that Oliver impostor or whoever he is, feel more at ease. Little does he know that Hal will grab Barry and fly away if he has to. He's grateful that there's a gap between them.

“Now,” Hal states, “I don't know why you want Barry, but there's no way in hell I'm letting you take him.”

“We're not here to kidnap him,” Cisco protests. “We're just here to take him back home.”

Hal's eyes flash green. “This _is_ his home.”

“No, it's not,” Caitlin disagrees, frost trickling across her hands. “He's not from this dimension. He's from our dimension, and we're here to take him back home.”

Bats had suggest it before, even brought it up to Barry in front of everyone, but Barry had simply questioned as to whether or not it was important. The heroes had looked at one another and then without hesitation told Barry that it wasn't. It didn't matter where Barry was from. Heck, Syfy was from Krypton, another _planet._ Barry was theirs now, and they wouldn't have it any other way.

“So what?” Hal demands. “Barry chose to live here. I don't think he wants to return to Crindal -”

Cisco interrupts to correct, “Central.”

Hal glares at him. “Whatever. Barry is my friend and you think I'm just going to let you take him away? Hell no.”

“Look,” Oliver steps forward. “This is a misunderstanding. We're here to see Barry. We're not going to take him away.” Everyone shoots Oliver a frustrated look, one that he ignores.

“Fuck that, Oliver,” Cisco bites out. “We're not leaving here without Barry.” Cisco takes a step forward. “Come on, Barry. We're going home.”

Barry flinches behind Hal and Cisco feels a twinge of guilt. Had he really caused this? No. It wasn't him. It couldn't be.

Hal growls when Cisco takes a step forward, but he makes a stupid, rookie mistake that he'll hit himself for later when he lets himself get distracted by Archer's voice in his ear. In that moment of distraction, The long, dark-haired man comes close enough to grab Barry's arm, but just as his hand touches Barry's, it passes right through it.

Hal smacks Cisco's hand away and stumbles back, tucking Barry behind with. “Don't touch him,” he hisses, ring glowing in the shadows.

“Barry -”

“Back off!” An arrow by Cisco's foot makes him jump backwards before being pulled by Oliver, who somehow suddenly has a throwing knife in his hand.

Two costumed figures jump down between them. “Well, that's not weird,” Archer says.

Dark Bat has two batarangs in his hand as he grunts, “Alternate universe. Safe to say that's you.” He looks back at Hal and Barry. Beneath his cowl, his eyes narrow and heat rises to the surface cracking his normally collected calm.

“You need to step back,” Dark Bat growls at the outsiders.

Oliver glares at the new intruders, safely assuming the one with the bow and arrow was this dimension's version of himself. “That was dangerous.”

Archer snorts. “As if we would miss if we meant to take someone out.”

Gritting his teeth, Oliver responds, “It was risky.”

“Maybe you're not me then. I never have a problem with stepping up when my friends need me,” Archer taunts.

Hal lets himself relax a little, shifting to pull Barry against him and hugging his friend. Green glow wrapping around his form to ensure that he didn't get phased through. “It's okay, Barry. You need to calm down. You're gong to burn yourself out,” he tells Barry, and he will burn out if he keeps using his abilities. Everyone had learned two important lessons: 1) Keep Barry fed & 2) Calm him down before he burns through his calories.

“You came here to talk, now talk,” Dark Bat orders the group.

“Don't think you can just steal Barry away against his wishes,” Archer adds on.

“We're not here to kidnap him,” Caitlin protests.

“He doesn't actually belong here,” one of the group, Dr. Stein, speaks up.

“Yes, he does,” Hal barks, feeling Barry shrink in on himself in his arms. “He belongs wherever the hell he's happy, and I get the feeling that it's not with you.”

“Wait a minute,” Oliver tries, but his alternate interrupts him.

“You wait a minute. He has a life here, he's got friends here. Barry is one of us. He's important to us,” Archer hisses. “We might be willing to let you talk to him if _he_ wants to talk to you, but if you dare try to take him..” his voice trails off and an evil smile blooms on his face as he looks up to the rooftops.

The group from the other dimension follow his gaze to see heroes cluttered on the rooftops either floating in the air on positioned on the ledges. They glare critically down upon the outsiders, some with outright anger.

Archer continues to smile darkly at the group as he looks back at them. “Let's just say you might get hurt.”

Oliver forces himself to appear relaxed on the outside. Hostility will get them killed, so he stows his knife, pleased when the others follow his lead. Finally. “Okay.” He holds his hands up in a peaceful gesture. “We're not going to take him anywhere he doesn't want to go, or approach him in anyway that makes him uncomfortable. Can we just.. talk to him?”

Cisco and Caitlin are floored at this act of protective friendship, maybe even something that resembles being family. They hate the way that they see Barry calming down in the arms of someone they don't know, hate how it's someone else sticking up for Barry like he needs protection from them. They feel ashamed, because that right there is friendship, so how can they call themselves his friends.

“Please?” Caitlin begs.

Dark Bat moves to Barry and, very gently, asks him if he's okay with talking with them. Hal assures Barry that they won't go anywhere. He doesn't even have to get any closer to them if he doesn't want to.

Barry's stunned, looking up at the faces of those he's come to consider good friends in the span of  almost six months. He hadn't known.. It's hard for him to believe that they'd really do all this for him, that they'd protect him, but they do.

Even though the prospect of speaking to his former friends makes him want to run, makes his thoughts turn dark and imagination, gory, he whispers, “I'll talk to them.” Barry looks at Hal, Dark Bat, and Archer. “You.. won't leave me?”

Dark Bat's features soften. “We'll never leave you.”

His three hero friends follow him, flanking Barry's sides as Barry takes a step forward and breathes in and out deeply. “Okay,” Barry tells Cisco, Caitlin, and his other former friends. “We can talk right here, right now.”

“Barry,” Cisco takes a step forward, wincing as Barry stiffens. “I.. don't forgive you, but we can work through it, can't we?”

No 'yet'? Barry blinks. 'Like..  _I don't forgive you, but we can still be friends even though I hate you, so come home?_ ' Barry wonders. He's been seeing Dr. Andrea for only a few months, but even he can see how hypocritical that sounds. He's sure his friends can see it too, even Oliver grimaces.

“Please, Barry. We're sorry, we didn't mean to-” Caitlin tries, but Barry cuts through.

“To what? Ignore me? Pretend I didn't exist? Forget I'm _human?”_ Barry shakes his head, feeling empowered by the love and care of his friends. “You did, and that's okay.” Archer and Hal scoff by his sides, as do some heroes on the rooftops.

“I screwed up. I get it. That's.. that's true, and I'm sorry for that, I truly am, but you didn't see how screwed up _I_ was,” Barry insists. “They killed my mom and then my dad, and I made a selfish choice out of anger and grief. I wanted them to be  alive. I wanted to have what I never got to have, and it was selfish. You can blame me for that.”

“I didn't know what the effects of changing the timeline would be, even though it feels like you think I have all the answers, that I did it on purpose. I _didn't._ I never meant to hurt you, or ruin your lives. I made a mistake, a terrible mistake.” Barry looks them each in the eye, his own heart flaring with anger at everything, at everyone who'd been there, at himself. “But don't tell me you wouldn't do the same for your loved ones.”

The group frowns, guilt coursing through their veins because they  _would've._ They would've done everything they could to save those they loved. It was hard to admit it, but Barry's right. They'd blamed him for everything that he'd done, everything that was his fault, and everything that wasn't.

“You killed my brother,” Cisco bitterly holds on.

Barry's hand find Hal's sleeve and he clings to the flight jacket as he responds with confidence. “No, Cisco. I didn't. A drunk driver killed Dante. I know it was a result of changing the timeline, but it wasn't me. You've blamed me for that for too long. I've admitted changing the timeline was stupid and selfish, but it was time that caused things to be the way they became. I didn't kill Dante.”

Archer grips Barry's shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. Barry's admitted things to him, Dark Bat, and Green Aura. Maybe it was because they're outsiders to what happened in Barry's dimension, but they could never lay the blame solely on Barry, and they hated to see the self-loathing in their friend's eyes. Right now they were proud of how he was standing up for himself. He'd shouldered the blame for far too long.

Cisco had faltered, not wanting to admit Barry was right, but he was.. Caitlin didn't even open her mouth to protest,  understanding that if she did, she'd be told exactly what Cisco had been told. It wasn't Barry's fault what happened to her. It was “fated” in the timeline. It was time correcting itself, making up for things that had changed.

Oliver saw the change sweep over the group as Barry's words rung true in their ears. It was painful to witness, but it was time to accept that both sides had made mistakes. “Barry.” Barry's eyes met his, and Oliver smiled. “It's good to see you again.”

Barry's face gentled and he returned Oliver's smile. “You too, Ollie. I've missed you.”

“What am I, chopped liver?” Archer grumbled. Barry chuckled, something his former friends hadn't seen in a long time. “Hey now. I miss you every day you're gone,” Barry teased.

Hal didn't bother to cover his laugh as Archer raised an eyebrow. “I bet you do.”

Barry rolled his eyes, but the smile on his face was evidence of fondness and happiness. He was happy here. 'He  _is_ happy here,' Oliver corrected himself.

“You're not coming back,” Oliver stated outloud, only voicing his thoughts for the sake of the others in the group. Caitlin gasped and Cisco looked sad and regretful.

Barry shook his head. “No. You managed fine without me. Everyone did.” Oliver frowned. “It's not your fault, Ollie. It's a good thing, because I really like it here.” He shrugged. “It may get a little crazy sometimes with all the crazies, but I'm happy here.” Barry smiles as he looks at his hero friends from this dimension. “I've made some amazing friends, and I think I've been adopted.”

Hal chuckles. “More like you've been made our mascot.” Barry huffs and playfully elbows Hal in the side.

“But no. I'm not going back. This is my home now,” Barry tells them.

Cisco bites his lip, guilty. “I'm sorry, Barry.” The rest of the group murmurs apologies as well.

“Thank you,” Barry genuinely says to Cisco, “but I'm still not going home.”

Shaking his head, Cisco sighs. “I know, and I don't expect you to. You're happy here and.. we may not be friends anymore, but is it too much to support you in wanting to be happy?”

Barry relaxes and gently replies. “It's not too much, and we can still be friends, if, I mean, if you want to..”

Cisco smiles a little. “I'd like that.”

“Me too,” Caitlin speaks up, followed by agreement from the rest of the group.

Barry smiles at them. It's not the same carefree smile they'd once got – no, that bright smile looks like it's reserved for this band of heroes that he's befriended and been taken in by, but it's something.

They step forward, hugging or exchanging handshakes as they wish, and quietly murmur their best wishes for Barry and some more apologies. Barry accepts it all, perhaps a bit stiffly, but he tries.

Oliver comes forward last, a sad smile on his face. “For what it's worth, I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when you needed me.”

Barry shakes his head. “It's okay. I know you would've been if you could.” Barry throws his arms around Oliver and hugs him tightly. “Thank you for caring. Thank you for everything,” Barry whispers in his ear, and Oliver can only hug him just as tightly, imaging that that's not going to be the last time they ever see each other. “Tell Felicity to be happy.”

“I will,” Oliver promises as they separate. He looks over at the heroes, eyes hardening. “Take care of him. He's the most amazing person I've ever met. I will be back if you let him get hurt.”

Dark Bat looks unimpressed, and Archer raises an eyebrow, daringly. Hal smiles stiffly at Oliver. “You won't need to.” Oliver hears other heroes murmur similar promises.

Oliver looks once more at Barry, before he turns away and walks to the group. Barry watches as they exit the alley, disappearing around the corner. For a moment he wants to call them back, wants to fake that things could go back to the way they used to, but he hears Hal's voice.

“Do you really not want to go with them?” And he's never been more sure.

“No,” Barry says, looking at Hal. “I like it here.” Barry's lips twitch, teasingly. “Plus someone's gotta keep an eye on you.”

“Well, yeah,” Hal starts. “Someone's gotta.. Hey!” He looks mock offended. The heroes crack up at the scene. “I'm a mature adult!” Hal protests.

Barry looks unamused. “Are you sure, Hal? I don't see it. Do you, Ollie?” Archer shakes his head.

“Nope.”

“What about you, Bruce?” Barry asks.

Dark Bat's lips curve slowly in a grin. “Not at all.” Hal gasps dramatically.

“Barry Allen!” Hal growls.

“Uh-oh!” Barry flashes behind Bruce when Hal lunges at him. He sticks out his tongue. “Can't catch me, Hal!”

“Oh, real mature. Get back here, Barry!”

Barry cackles as he flashes around the alley, heroes laughing and cheering for Barry as he runs from Hal. Bruce and Oliver can only watch on with fondness. Barry may not have been theirs originally, but now that he was in their lives? They couldn't imagine life without him.

Barry agrees. It may have begun with fear and darkness, but right now he's the happiest he's ever been, and he wouldn't have had this change without a few.. collisions.

So, yeah. This is his home – Collision City.

**Author's Note:**

> -Phew. Once I started, I just couldn't stop. I apologize for all the mistakes in this. It got a lot longer than I expected it to.
> 
> Special thanks to Nixie for all that enthusiasm and help - I wouldn't have had the courage to write this down otherwise.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this odd little bit. I know it's a bit imaginative? Haha, however it can be called.
> 
> With regards to my other works: I will be doing a Fic Exchange, as well as two more holiday gift fics in the future, but hopefully I'll be able to write more with "The Vigilante Way" and "Along Came a Goblin".
> 
> Thanks for reading~


End file.
